A4000 battery damage?

trixster · 27 October 2016, 16:26

Hi all,

When I bought my A4000 the other month the guy I bought it from said there was no battery leak or damage but the battery was still in place.

The first thing I did was open it up and remove the battery. There was no sign of leaking on the battery itself and it's legs.

I've attached a pic of the battery area. Does it look a bit suspicious? Everything works fine and a previous owner had everything re-capped, but I'm wondering if the machine had seen some leakage in the distant past and the original battery was maybe replaced with a new one which is the one I removed.

bebek · 27 October 2016, 17:31

There was battery leak and not the small one but not the biggest

, you can see missing pads under HCT174 damaged tracks. It is not recapped too as caps look original.

trixster · 27 October 2016, 18:00

Hmm, annoying, I thought as much. It's not widespread but it looks a little messy around there. The bottom half of HCT174 looks rather poorly.

What's the best way forward? Send the motherboard to someone for repair?

bebek · 27 October 2016, 18:16

Recap is needed for a long run as these are horrible caps. The rest is up to you , if it works you can leave it, if you don not like it it is possible to do it neater.

FOL · 27 October 2016, 18:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by trixster

Hmm, annoying, I thought as much. It's not widespread but it looks a little messy around there. The bottom half of HCT174 looks rather poorly.

What's the best way forward? Send the motherboard to someone for repair?

Leave it, if its not broke, then dont fix it.
It doesn't look messy at all. Quite a nice job actually.

trixster · 27 October 2016, 19:13

Do you think it looks like it's been cleaned up and 'fixed' then?

ajk · 27 October 2016, 19:40

It's quite clearly been worked on:

The traces nearest the battery have flaking solder mask. One of them is probably no longer connected, which is why there is a repair wire going up and over the chip towards the top left. Additionally, some legs are no longer connected to the circuit board at all, the pads having been torn off.

If it's working, you can leave it. But if you want it repaired to a nice standard, make sure you send it to someone who is definitely up to the job.

trixster · 27 October 2016, 19:44

What concerns me is not so much the repair wires but whether any residual acid is still slowly eating through the motherboard.

ajk · 27 October 2016, 20:01

It's not really possible to tell from pictures how well the board has been cleaned. But most likely the reaction has stopped by now, and with the battery removed there is no source for further electrolyte.

Capacitors might of course be leaking, as a separate issue.

trixster · 27 October 2016, 20:21

Cool, thanks for the info!

27 October 2016, 16:26	#1
trixster Guru Meditating Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: England Posts: 2,339	A4000 battery damage? Hi all, When I bought my A4000 the other month the guy I bought it from said there was no battery leak or damage but the battery was still in place. The first thing I did was open it up and remove the battery. There was no sign of leaking on the battery itself and it's legs. I've attached a pic of the battery area. Does it look a bit suspicious? Everything works fine and a previous owner had everything re-capped, but I'm wondering if the machine had seen some leakage in the distant past and the original battery was maybe replaced with a new one which is the one I removed. Last edited by trixster; 03 December 2019 at 17:08.

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27 October 2016, 17:31	#2
bebek Registered User Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Poole UK Posts: 349	There was battery leak and not the small one but not the biggest , you can see missing pads under HCT174 damaged tracks. It is not recapped too as caps look original.

27 October 2016, 18:00	#3
trixster Guru Meditating Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: England Posts: 2,339	Hmm, annoying, I thought as much. It's not widespread but it looks a little messy around there. The bottom half of HCT174 looks rather poorly. What's the best way forward? Send the motherboard to someone for repair?

27 October 2016, 18:16	#4
bebek Registered User Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Poole UK Posts: 349	Recap is needed for a long run as these are horrible caps. The rest is up to you , if it works you can leave it, if you don not like it it is possible to do it neater.

27 October 2016, 19:13	#6
trixster Guru Meditating Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: England Posts: 2,339	Do you think it looks like it's been cleaned up and 'fixed' then?

27 October 2016, 19:40	#7
ajk Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 1,341	It's quite clearly been worked on: The traces nearest the battery have flaking solder mask. One of them is probably no longer connected, which is why there is a repair wire going up and over the chip towards the top left. Additionally, some legs are no longer connected to the circuit board at all, the pads having been torn off. If it's working, you can leave it. But if you want it repaired to a nice standard, make sure you send it to someone who is definitely up to the job.

27 October 2016, 19:44	#8
trixster Guru Meditating Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: England Posts: 2,339	What concerns me is not so much the repair wires but whether any residual acid is still slowly eating through the motherboard.

27 October 2016, 20:01	#9
ajk Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 1,341	It's not really possible to tell from pictures how well the board has been cleaned. But most likely the reaction has stopped by now, and with the battery removed there is no source for further electrolyte. Capacitors might of course be leaking, as a separate issue.

27 October 2016, 20:21	#10
trixster Guru Meditating Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: England Posts: 2,339	Cool, thanks for the info!

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